Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-12-11

and uuudies. The efforts Oh WOMEN 70
approximate such men has ended III
v,riparity. The two sexes on the plane
Of common dut es have a chance 10
meet the mutual obligation 10 oe
refined and pure. answer the gues-
tion then. that the present driis II
not toward rudeness, but toward
social equilibrium of character anu
vuanners We have for four centuries
held the ideal man to be the ge9'le-
man But we have persisted In hoid-
inc hat no one is gentleman, or can
he q gentleman, apart from the select
and unfurtu iate class which exists
below the necess ty of earning nv
;no We are coming rapidly TO an aye
of hod-carrier gentlemen and hsh-wlie
Ladies. Our ahlest thinkers, poe's,
statesmen, are also mechanics, tarmers
and tradesmen.
The power OF woman to ennoble
society depends on her strength ol
character. To have power size mu
have strength. The tendency for some
time Was in the opposi direction.
Our grandmother before the age OF
invention had enough to do about the
house. The house was shop, a lac,
tory and store. Then the husband
on rainy days mended shoes, ana his
wife spun her own wool and wove her
own cloth. The father OF the writer
of this article was fal mer, but "hen
the rain drove him indoors he tanned
his own leather, and in another little
shop made or mended shoes. New
England life in those days maize OF
both sexes helpmeets; that Is they
met to help. But for a couple OF gener-
ations machinery changed all this. The
vouny woman lost her hold OH duties.
Everything became misadapted.. The
American girl went from the Kitchen
to tine drawing-room-idle. Ihere
was a palpable contrast between her
and her mother. 1t was an absolute
necessity that our higher schools
should be open to women. and ne"
employments take the place of the
old. The girl of this of-elearlns era
was loud and shall ow. Howells,
American girl belongs to this past
generation. She was temporary
product of a readjustment. To par
ade her as a product OF American
sentiment. or as an essential Amerl-
canism. is unjust. She fingers yet, to
be sure, and will linger for some time
to come. And it may be wise to
satirize her as a very undesirable
relic, as we'll as a very comical affair
For our generation we had not one
honest Margaret or Frances or
Rebecca. They were transformed into
Mayyies and Fannies, and Beckys,
and Josies-all diminutives, and ex-
pressive OF dim inative self-apureci-
alton. Such nominatives have a
childish sound, and react in produc-
ing a childish type of character. A
woman who calls herself Molly, or
Polly, or Maggie, except in the mot
intimate association of fr endship,
occupies precisely the position OF a
business man signing his bills
and checks Eddy, or Billy, or
Tommy. Imagine Billy Vanderbilt's
signature, or Dicky Ashcroft's,
or Philly Armour's, or Billy Stanard's.
To be sure there are men who never
get beyond the Charlie stage; but
they are wee little fell 'ws whom we
pet, or despise as dwarfs. The poodle
ambition Of being social baby, even
in name, is mark of intellectual
vacuity. If any American girl
chooses to respond to this article with
a note of thanks, trust she will not
sign herself ''i ours, Ettie," or Fanny,
or Dolly, or Molly, or Jenny Fauntle-
roy. My horses name is Fanny, and
my cows are Ruth and Grace and
Daisy. l acknowledge that some girls
are daisies, aud buttercups, and lilies,
AMI roses; while some that hear those
names are brambles, and docks, and
thistles. But pray leave us these
names for our stable and barny ard
pets.
Lord but l know girl that weighs
18O, and is every pound empnatic, who
insists on being called Minnie. 1t is
like the stout belt with which she
pinches her hopeless waist utterly
useless and quite laughable. l would
surely dash my pen through those
lines, only that know the American
girl is rapidly getting the better of the
insipidities and tepidities OF self-de-
probation. So long as she was only an
appanage OF the male sex, such Child
ishness was cxcusable. The real
American girl is, however, neither the
ungovern able and rude creature OF the
HOwell's picture, nor the diminutive
characte less creature OF the transit
ton period. A strong, determined,
self-poised and decisive girl, who can
shout and romp. but can study, and
think, and converse, and is capable Of
enduring great responsibilities, Is the
American girl of to-day. At
our summer resorts you will not
fail to note a rapid decadence OF
conventionalities freedom OF social
intercourse, a lowering of caste distinc-
tions, but an increase of individual
ity.
But was ever revolution accom-
plished more quietly or harmlessly? :?
The establishment Of Rcpublicanism
in place of monarchial forms of gov
ernment was less fundamental social
change than the emanciption of wo-
man from the inequalities and disad-
yantages ASSOCIATED With sex. Tbs
full measure OF 1t Is hardly apyreci-
ated. While Mr.. James laugh is still
warm, the American novel passes in
to the hands OF women. To-day our
ablest as we'll rs best-read novelists
are women. have not only referred
to those which have reached my table,
but to those which ill the columns OF
publishers announcements and those
that endure the crucial tests of critics
and readers; and you may believe me
that our enduring novels are predom-
inantly from the brains of women. OF
the five latest announcements by
Houghton Il Miffin, three are
by women. OF Ticknor's eight
latest announcements, three are
by women. The best translator of
Russian books by all odds is Mis-.
Hapgood. The most admirable pencil
and brush to illustrate nature in her
moods is Miss Jerome, whose annual
- ..olurno ir hailad with deliuht in